Religious Liberty

“New York will continue to be barred from enforcing any requirement that employers deny religious exemptions. Additionally, the state cannot revoke exemptions already granted.” - RNS

“Linking a personal religious belief to an organized religion’s stated beliefs could be problematic…. Berg noted courts have regarded the relevant religious belief in such cases as that of the individual, not the group to which he or she belongs.” - WORLD

“…the Province of New Brunswick now allows their provincial passport system to apply to churches on a voluntary basis. If a church can prove that it has 90% of its congregation vaccinated, then they can meet without physical distancing (and more).” - Wyatt Graham

“A federal judge temporarily blocked the state of New York on Tuesday from forcing medical workers to be vaccinated after a group of health care workers sued, saying their Constitutional rights were violated because the state’s mandate disallowed religious exemptions.” - C.Leaders/AP

Related…

“In an order issued Monday, the Virginia Supreme Court granted an appeal to review the merits of a lower court decision in favor of elementary school teacher Byron Tanner Cross and agreed to keep an injunction reinstating the teacher in place.” - CPost

“The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Aug. 31) voted to authorize a $400,000 payment to settle a legal battle with Grace Community Church over lead pastor John MacArthur’s defiance of COVID-19 restrictions in the early months of the pandemic.

“Police arrested Muhammad Yahya Waloni, a former Protestant who became a Muslim in 2006 and later an imam, from his home in the national capital of Jakarta on Thursday” - CPost

“Evangelical ethicists and legal scholars agree that many followers of Christ object to the COVID-19 vaccines, but they’re split on whether any of the objections commonly articulated among believers constitute religious objections.

“If you are part of, say, an offshoot of Christian Science that thinks any medical treatment is a lack of faith in God, you may have a legitimate religious liberty claim, showing what your religion teaches and how you cannot carry out your faith in such circumstances.

“Part of the history of us Missouri Synod Lutherans, a church body that was started by German immigrants fleeing persecution from the state church, is how congregations switched from the German language in worship to English, due to the patriotic anti-German sentiments of Americans during World War I.” - Veith